So I have and use all the Elektron devices from the MachineDrum except for the analog ones and I am thinking about an analog four and I just have a few questions about it’s functionalities. A thing I find really frustrating on the older devices (Octatrack and monomachine especially) is that note lengths aren’t recorded into the sequencer when live recording. My workflow basically depends on live recording melodies and drum rythms into the sequencer, so this is a bit of a deal breaker. The digi’s and syntakt have the trig page which records note lengths and velocity. Looking at the front panel for the analog four, I don’t see a trig button like you do on the digis, so I wanted to confirm that note lengths are recorded into the sequencer.
The other question I have, is it possible to lock a sequence to a certain scale, and then transpose that sequence in that scale? Preferably transposing based on a midi keyboard input, but that isn’t essential. I have a Keystep 37 which has this ability, and it is so much fun to make a simple sequence and then play it around the keyboard by pressing keys to change the root note of the sequence.
A scan through the manual for OS 1.51c suggests this is possible while step recording. (edit: the manual is not specific about live recording, but others report it does do this. see posts below)
Looks like Yes. I really enjoy the transpose feature on A4/AK (& KS 37 too).
The note lengths thing is really baffling to me if this instrument works the same way as Octatrack and Monomachine. Like if I can play a melody on the keyboard, and want that melody in the sequencer, but none of the note lengths are recorded, that is missing like half of the aspect of the melody. I want to just press keys and then have the sequencer play back what I played. The Digi’s and Syntakt do this quite well, it seems like a big oversight for a synth with dedicated and integrated sequencer. I feel like every single elektron box gets like %70-%90 of what I want from it, but there is often one really annoying deal breaker, and this is the big one with the older boxes for me. I just wish live recording wasn’t such an afterthought compared to programming the sequencer.
What’s even more frustrating is that the midi sequencer side of the OT does record the trigger lengths, just not the sample side. I detest having to go back and plock every single trigger to make it do what I want.
Thank goodness! Thanks for the answer, I was looking in the manual and I couldn’t find a definitive answer about it. I suspected that they had solved that particular issue.
That is funny about the midi note lengths on the octatrack, that makes me more likely to actually use my octatrack as a midi sequencer, but I had just been continuing to use one of the digis recently, just because of familiarily.
With the analog four I am kinda hoping that I can get the ease of use of the digi’s when it comes to live recording sequences in, but then have additional features like performance scenes, more modulation, additional outs, slide trigs, etc. Also I have a bunch of modular so I am interested in having an elektron LFO I can use for modular. It sounds like it might be the sweet spot for an Elektron synthesis based device for me, since some of the limitations of the smaller boxes annoy me, and the live recording on the older boxes isn’t great.
Yeah, the AK gradually became my centerpiece / go-to & primary sequencer during Jamuary 2023 for the reasons you cite above. (Also used a Roland S-330, which your handle always reminds me of.)
Thanks to others for confirming the note length detail. I searched the manual for every instance of “length” and it didn’t seem to be specified. Seems like a good detail for Elektron to add to the manual(s)…
Yeah the performance macros seem like the closest thing to the octatrack crossfader on a synthesis based device. I need to look into the effects, I definitely like the FX track on syntakt.
You can sequence the FX track just like the ST. Like the DN, it has chorus, reverb, and delay…but their character is very different from the Digi boxes (which I also love). Like the Digis you can mix the L and R separately. You can also dedicate any of the tracks to an input, and run it through the filters.
